SenniyOngu Pasurams

by Sri V.Sadagopan

The Mood & Context of the ten verses

Azhwar reminds us that Sriman NaarAyaNan manifests
Himself in Para , VyUha , Vibhava , AntharyAmithva
and ArchAvathArams for correcting the chethanAs and
to enlist the corrected chethanAs in His nithya kiamkaryam .
AzhwAr points out that these two activities are fully
demonstrated by ThiruvEnkatamudayAn at Thirumalai .
His soulabhyam , dayA , bhaktha Vaatsalyam are experienced
by AzhwAr and he pays his tribute to the kAruNya raasi
standing on top of the VenkaTam hills .

AzhwAr started with the singing of the ThiruppallAndu
to the Lord , His consort , His divyAyudhams and His
bhagavathAls . Then he shifted to assume the role
of YasOdhA pirAtti to enjoy the bala leelAs of the Lord
in KrishNAvathAram . In the last few decads , he concentrated
on slected divya desams , UpadEsams for us , prayer for
anthima smrithi of the Lord , NaicchAnusandhAnam ,
SaraNagathi , the union with the Lord at the level of his heart
and the banishing of all the disease of samsArA as a result .
He is thus in a celebratory and thankful mood by the time
he arrives at the last decad of his Periya Thirumozhi.

After relating to the doctrines of Arthapanchakam in the
verses of Periya Tnirumozhi , he is coming to the stage
of acknowledging with utter gratefulness the limitless
blessings conferred on him by ThiruvenkatamudayAn .

He has now a clear understanding of the five tenets of
Artha Panchakam : Paramathma SvarUpam , JeevAthma-
SvarUpam , UpAya SvarUpam , Pala SvarUpam and
VirOdhi SvarUpam . The acquisition of this Jn~anam
makes him very happy and contented since he is
comforted by the pramANam , " Jn~AnAn Moksha : " .
He is also comforted by the thought that the five tenets
of Artha Panchakam are compressed in the three
rahasyams ( MoonRil Syrrikkiya Eindhu ), which he
has been celebrating in number of his paasurams .

ThiruvEnkatamudayAn witnesses the joyous and ebulient
mood of the AzhwAr and worries as to whether He has done
enough for His dear devotee and " father-in-law " . The Lord
is somewaht agitated over this thought of not having done
enough . AzhwAr responds to the mood of the Lord of Thirumalai
and says : " EmperumAnE ! Sarva Swami ! VenkatEsA !
All my enemies that interfered with my pursuit of Moksham
have been driven away by You . I have obtained what all I
sought from You .I have understood the deep meanings
of Artha Panchakam and therefore I am enjoying niradhisaya
Aanandham . You have now given me every happiness and
accepted my kaimkaryam . Please rest Your mind since
there is nothing more that I need " . AzhwAr concludes his
prabhandham in this celebratory , thankful and grateful
mood . The " SenniyOngu " decad ( Periya Thirumozhi 5.4)
covers these magnificient thoughts of a Kruthaj~nan ,
who has performed Prapatthi at the sacred feet of the Lord
and who is comforted by the Lord's acceptance of
his prapatthi . Periya Thirumozhi started with the concern
for the Lord's well being in this evil world( pallAndu ) and ends
with an assurance to the Lord that he (AzhwAr ) has been
fully rewarded by Him and that there is nothing else he needs
anymore .

Paasuram 1 : SenniyOngu ---

O Thiruvenkatamudaya residing on the top of
the cool hill reaching towards the sky ! O Lord
with anantha kalyANa guNAs , who has elected to
reside there to confer Your blessings on all
the chEthanAs ! O Master who has the gift and
power to ignore the profound trespasses by
Your adiyArs ! I am seeking Your grace only as
the redeeming fruit for my athmA and its house ,
the body . What would You wish to do now ?

Paasuram 2 : PaRavai yERu ParampurudA ---

O Parama PurushA who sits on Garudan
and uses that veda svarUpi as Your
vaahanam ! After Your acceptance of me with
no other recourse as Your servant in Your role
as Sarvarakshakan , the ocean of fearsome
SamsAram has dried up and I have no more fear of it .
Thanks to Your grace and DayA , the forest of sins ,
which was about to put an end to my efforts to
seek You as saviour is being burned away totally.
The nectar -like river of Jn~Anam keeps on
flowing .

Paasuram 3 : YemmanA ! Yenn kuladhaivamE ! ---

O my Emperor ! O the supreme divinty of my kulam !
O my nAyakA ! Who else can aspire for the great
blessings arising from Your boon of offering me(adiyEn )
residence under the coll shade of Your Thiruvadi ?
The sins of the people of the world , which tormented us
and laid us low like the works of formless apparitions and
evil spirits are themselves under Your holy feet and
are unable to breathe or move. They seem to have run
away once Your grace fell on us and have hidden
themselves in to distant bushes . What a miracle
to witness and experience ?

Paasuram 4 : Kadal kadainthu amudham kondu ---

O Lord with mighty shoulders and powerful arms
adorning Sudarsanam and Panchajanyam !
O mighty warrior using the great bow named
Saarangam as Your weapon in battles ! Just as
You churned the milky ocean and filled the kalasam
( golden pot ) with nectar , I have opened my mouth
and drank deep and stored You as the insatiable
nectar (AarAvamudhu ) and this experience is melting
my body with joy . Now , Even the Lord of punishment ,
Yaman can not approach places , where my sceptre
and rod holds sway .

Paasuram 5 : Ponnaik kondu ---

O my matchless Father ! O Lord who has the power to
command all my five senses to be totally engaged in
service to You ! O Master who can protect my AthmA
from becoming a slave to others ! Like a gold smith
uses the testing stone ( uraikkal ) to rub the gold to test its
quality , I have positioned You on my tongue and changed
it to transmute it from its base nature into that of shining gold.
Thanks to that sweet experience of chanting Your divya
nAmAs , my tongue has been sanctified . I have now
housed You , who is not easily attained even by Yogis ,
in my heat cavity. I have also made my lowly self as Your
servant .

Paasuram 6: unnudaya Vikkiramam ---

O Lord who incarnated as ParasurAmA with the weapon
of axe (parasu ) to destroy the arrogance of the kings !
O ParasurAmAvatharA with fullness of kalyANa guNAs !
I have painted in the walls of my heart all of Your valiant
and brave deeds completely like an artist drawing paintings
a canvas . O Supreme Being ! Where can You go now
after rsiding inside me ? You can not go anywhere
and leave me .

Paasuram 7 : Paruppathatthu kayal ---

O Lord who imprinted Your lotus red feet on my
head as insignia of Your status as my Lord just as
the paandyan king imprinted the sign of the fish
as a mark of his soverignity over the mountain
of MahA Meru ! O Lord who broke the tusks of
the mighty elephant ( KuvalayApeetam ) of KamsA !
O parakramasAli , who destroyed the powerful
wrestlers ( ChANUran and Mushtikan ) in KamsA's
court ! I keep reciting names such as these
that remind me of Your unsurpassed heroism
with my tongue that carries the marks of that
exercise . You have blessed me by making me
one of Your own as a result of my repeated recitation
of Your heroic names .

Paasuram 8 : Ananthan paalum ----

O tall Lord with Sudarsana chakram in Your hand !
You have entered my heart and rejuvenated me
and made my life a blessed one ! This You seem to
have accomplished by reducing Your affection for
the seats of AdisEshA and GarudA as places of Your
residennce . Thinking about this magnificient blessings
of Yours , I am going to rest now with a heart filled
with gratefulness and eyes filled with tears .I will
keep remembering the mahOpakAram You did
all the days of my life and feel relieved from worries
of any kind .

Paasuram 9 : Panik kadalilum ----

How can I describe Your sowseelyam ?
You have forgotten Your habit of resting comfortably
on the cool , milky ocean and ran away from there to
reside in the ocean of my heart ! O Lord who is capable
of performing such miraclous deeds ! O the Lord of
MahA Lakshmi ! O Lord full of auspicious guNAs !
You have discarded the matchless places of
Your erstwhile residence such as Milky ocean and
the orbit of the Sun and have chosen my lowly heart
as yYour preferred seat of residence . Your sowseelya
guNam is beyond describtion .

Paasuram 10 : TadavarayAi miLirndhu ---

O Lusturous Lord who shines like a resplendent
flag on the top of a lofty mountain ! How great is
Your affection ( vaatsalyam ) for me ! You have cast
aside Your preferred residences at the milky ocean ,
Srivaikuntam and the city of mighty ramparts , dwarakA
and have chosen to reside inside me .

Paasuram 11 : pala Sruthi -- vEyar tangaL ---

Those who recite these ten verses of
VishNuchitthan of the vEyar kulam in whose heart
resides Gopaalan with the hue of dark blue rainy cloud
will never ever be separated from the Lord and will be
blessed with the Nithya kaimkaryam for Him ,
who is the bull among the cowherds of AyarpAdi and
is the nectar for the pious sages like SanakA .